|
Wikipedia
|
| Common Names |
| Wood Betony , |
| Botanical Name |
| Stachys officinalis |
| Syn. Betonica officinalis |
| Family |
| LAMIACEAE or LABIATAE Mint Family |
|
|
| |
|
Betony was once the sovereign remedy for all maladies of the head, and its properties as a nervine and tonic are still acknowledged, though it is more frequently employed in combination with other nervines than alone.
The weak infusion forms a very acceptable substitute for tea, and in this way is extensively used in many localities. It has somewhat the taste of tea and all the good qualities of it, without the bad ones.
Little modern research has been done to either prove or disprove the medicinal values attributed to betony by the ancients, who cultivated betony in monastery gardens where it still may be found growing about these ancient buildings. There are no known adverse effects from use of wood betony other than occasional mild nausea. |
|
Prep Methods :Herbal tea: 1 to 2 tsp dried leaf and flower steeped in 1 cup of boiling water. The dried herb may also be smoked to relieve headache, and is a component of British Herb Tobacco.
- Show All
- British Herb Tobacco
- Old fashioned sleepy tea
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Headache | | The dried herb may also be smoked to relieve headache, and is a component of British Herb Tobacco 1008
| | Stress, nervine | | Betony was once the sovereign remedy for all maladies of the head, and its properties as a nervine and tonic are still acknowledged, though it is more frequently employed in combination with other nervines than alone. 1030
|
|
| Side Effects: |
|---|
| |
|
 Native to Europe, wood betony is now planted in many parts of the world with temperate climates.
Grieve writes -It is a pretty woodland plant, met with frequently throughout England, but by no means common in Scotland. Though generally growing in woods and copses, it is occasionally to be found in more open situations, and amongst the tangled growths on heaths and moors.
|
 Many extravagant superstitions grew up round Betony, one, of very ancient date, was that serpents would fight and kill each other if placed within a ring composed of it; and others declared that even wild beasts recognized its efficacy and used it if wounded, and that stags, if wounded with a dart, would search out Betony, and, eating it, be cured. Betony was endowed with power against evil spirits. On this account, it was carefully planted in churchyards and hung about the neck as an amulet or charm, sanctifying, as Erasmus tells us, 'those that carried it about them,' and being also 'good against fearful visions' and an efficacious means of 'driving away devils and despair. |
Common Typos:
|
|
|
|
|
